The remains of the late honorable Geraldine Doe-Sheriff, Senator of Montserrado County of the 54th National Legislature of Liberia, were on Saturday, March 16 laid to rest at the Kaizer Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Brewerville, Montserrado County.
The burial followed an elaborate funeral program held at the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Broad Street, Monrovia, attended by an array of current and former government officials, led by Dr George Manneh Weah, President of the Republic of Liberia.
Geraldine Doe-Sheriff, Senator of Montserrado County, died in Accra, Ghana on February 10, 2019, following a protracted period of illness. The remains of the fallen senator were flown in from Ghana by a high-level government delegation on February 15, 2019.
Earlier in the week, a Book of Condolence for the late Doe-Sheriff was opened in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, March 12, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. and on Wednesday, March 13, from 10:00am to 4:00p.m, and signed by the President of the Republic, followed by members of the three branches of government.
On Thursday, March 14, a special requiem for the late Senator Geraldine Doe-Sheriff was held at the Rotunda of the Capitol Building, where senators eulogized their fallen colleague.
The Senators said: “Comrade Sister Doe-Sheriff proudly leaves behind indelible prints. She was a politician with grandiose characteristics, a gallant soldier with unmatched valor and an amazing woman of undiminishing pride and dignity.”
They further added: “She was enviably imbued with lofty human talents, and she used them judiciously. Comrade Sister Doe-Sheriff was a woman of profound temerity, who defied all the excesses of Gender discrimination in Liberia and resiliently accentuated to the apex of politics—courageously rising on par with male counterparts.”
On Friday, March 15, the wake keeping of the late Honorable Senator was held at the Paynesville City Hall from 6:00 p.m. to 12 midnight.
Before Senator Doe-Sheriff’s death, she served as Chair on the Senate Executive Committee. The late Senator also played key roles in other working committees, including Transport, Ways, Means and Finance, Gender, Health and Social Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Public Accounts amongst others.
Senator Geraldine Doe-Sheriff is also on record for proposing several bills, including ‘An Act for the Establishment of Vocational Education in all Public Schools in Liberia,’ ‘The National Drugs Abuse Rehabilitation Bill’, ‘A Bill to Sustain Democracy Through Public Funding of Political Parties, Coalition and Alliances,’ ‘The Decent Work Bill of 2010,’ ‘A Bill to Create the National Whistleblower Protection Act,’ and An Act to Establish a Policy on the Use of the White Cane to Safe Guard the Rights of the Blind to Public Facilities in Liberia.’
The late Senator was also a major player in crafting a bill that calls for affirmative action in the ethical participation and representation of women.
As a mark of last respect and tribute to the late Senator of Montserrado County of the 54th National Legislature, the President of the Republic of Liberia, Dr. George Manneh Weah, declared a period of mourning during which the national ensign of the Republic was flown at half-mast from all public buildings in Montserrado County on Friday, March 15, and on the day of interment, Saturday, March 16.